“Everyone Has a Special Niche”: Building Community in a Water Education Professional Development

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Empowering Educators and Youth: Building Community, Identity, and Agency (Table 11)

Abstract

Exploring the environmental issue of water quality allows learners to consider broad, complex interactions of ecosystems and human interactions. In this paper, we consider how teachers describe their experiences as a part of an emergent community built through interaction in formal and informal settings. Using an ethnographic case study methodology, the authors acted as participant observers during a week-long professional development (PD) experience. Data analyzed includes field notes, participant artifacts, and participant interviews. The findings outline community themes including: a) interconnectedness; b) the group is better than the sum of its parts; c) the value of interactions with outside experts and community members, and d) the nested character of the teachers, PD group, schools, local communities, and state.

Authors

• Jessica Stephenson Reaves, Kennesaw State University

• Rasheda Likely, Kennesaw State University

• Anna M. Arias, Kennesaw State University